New IDF App for Soldiers, Soldiers-to-Be

IDF unveils smartphone app that allows soldiers and soldiers-to-be to check their status or work on training, anytime, anywhere.

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Maayana Miskin, 08/09/13 11:32

Smartphone (illustration)

Israel news photo: Flash 90

The IDF has unveiled its first major smartphone application. The app, which has been dubbed "Pakal," will allow soldiers, reservists and future soldiers to check their personal file, catch up on relevant news, and even begin training, simply using their phone.

The application is intended to make information more accessible to soldiers in the field, who often lack access to a computer, and to new recruits, who are part of a generation which, experts predict, will soon use smartphones more frequently than computers for internet access.

“Pakal” has moved the existing IDF website for new recruits, Olim Al Madim, to a mobile format – allowing soldiers-to-be to use their phones to access their personal information pertaining to enlistment.

Career soldiers and those serving their mandatory IDF service will be able to use their phones to access their personal information as well, including information on their salaries and on medical services. Reservists will be able to see what payments they are eligible for due to their service.

Current soldiers and reservists will also have access to non-classified training material from a variety of courses. The goal is to make it easier for soldiers to undergo IDF training by allowing them to study some of the material independently.

The application also includes news from the official IDF website and new announcement from the IDF Spokesperson’s Office.

Other app features include material from the IDF rabbinate, including weekly lectures on Torah and Judaism from Chief IDF Rabbi, Rabbi Rafi Peretz.

Those behind the project told the IDF website that in the upcoming months new services will be added, including an application on "heritage" – created in cooperation with the Education Corp. – and an application for physical fitness.

The application will be available for free download through existing Apple and Google stores.